Video gamers can now help Leonardo DiCaprio win an Oscar...well sort of

Animation studio The Line has developed an engaging and humorous video game intended to let players help actor Leonardo DiCaprio in his quest to win an Oscar award.

Leo’s Red Carpet Rampage is an addictive 8-bit racing game where DiCaprio, with the player’s help, desperately chases the iconic statue down the red carpet. In his way are the paparazzi, a giant Oscar statue hellbent on slamming DiCaprio with his cane and the likes of Lady Gaga and other nominees Matt Damon, Michael Fassbender, Bryan Cranston and Eddie Redmayne — all decked out in their character’s costumes.

Upon finishing a level, one is treated to “bonus rounds” that include helping DiCaprio get to his car after a quaalude overdose (an homage to his “should-have-won-an-Oscar turn in The Wolf Of Wall Street), assisting in writing his acceptance speech, imploring him to “act harder” and, the true gem of the game, “find the black nominee,” an obvious slam on the overwhelming lack of diversity in the nominee pool.

According to Sam Taylor, a director at The Line, in an article by Natalie Jarvey in The Hollywood Reporter, "That’s kind of the point of the joke. It felt like it would be remiss of us not to cover one of the most controversial aspects of this year’s Oscar season, which was the fact that there weren’t many black nominees in a pool of talent which had a few good contenders who were of color."

The game, according to the article and Bjorn-Erik Aschim, another director at The Line, was inspired by the site DidLeoWinAnOscarYet.com. He brought the idea to Taylor and game designer Max van der Merwem who helped develop the elements to create the full game experience.

Even if one performs well in the game, DiCaprio still can’t catch that elusive golden award — and that’s by design. If DiCaprio in fact does win the award this year, there are plans to change the ending.

"It’s still uncertain, isn’t it?" said Aschim. "It’s kind of the idea of the whole game."